Everyone who really knows Brooklyn knows Devonairre Street girls are different. They’re the ones you shouldn’t fall in love with. The ones with the curse. The ones who can get you killed.

Lorna Ryder is a Devonairre Street girl, and for years, paying lip service to the curse has been the small price of living in a neighborhood full of memories of her father, one of the thousands killed five years earlier in the 2001 Times Square Bombing. Then her best friend’s boyfriend is killed, and suddenly a city paralyzed by dread of another terrorist attack is obsessed with Devonairre Street and the price of falling in love.

**I received an advanced copy for the purpose of writing a review. All thoughts and opinions stated in this review are all my own**

Magical realism set in a beautiful reimagined New York City? Hell to the freaking yes. For fans of American Horror Story: Coven and Romeo and Juliet, The Careful Undressing of Love by Corey Ann Haydu tells the story of four girls apart of a cult-like group who are forbidden to love. AND IT WAS EPIC!

The girls of Devonairre Street are told time and time again that if they fall in love with a boy, whether or not he loves them back, that boy will die. And so the girls do their best to follow the rules and obey the curses' demands, until they can't help falling in love. Lorna Ryder has seen her father die at the hands of the curse. All her life, she's been taught that this curse exists. Even though her mother refuses to believe otherwise even though her own father died, Lorna knows some part of her believes it even though she doesn't want to. This is not a book about falling in love. This is a book about how far one will go for love and as the title suggests, the careful dissection and "undressing" of love. It discovers the story of a girl who is not supposed to fall in love, but does without realizing. And when being in love means the difference between life and death, one must be tread carefully.

"If you love someone and they vanish, you are left nodding like a zombie and throwing teacups at a wall."

-- quoted from an uncorrected proof of the book

The juxtaposition of love and death, two opposing forces, is beautifully demonstrated in this book. Finally. FINALLY a book where love doesn't always win. No doubt I'm a huge sucker for romance, but this was absolutely refreshing and wonderful. We learn how love makes us superstitious and even dangerous. Love is beautiful, but it is also a prickly rose with thorns. Love will make you believe. Love is also terrifying, enough to drive people away.

The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse. Coming in at less than 300 pages, I was scared that the author wasn't going to be able to drag out the entire story, but I was wrong. Although not filled to the brim with great character development, I think the focus of the book was the character's realization and the emphasis and symbolism of love. You see the lemons on the cover? You're probably like "hey why the heck are there lemons on the cover?" They play an extremely huge role in the story and in the characters' development, and I was so satisfied when I finally found out what the lemons meant.

I was also curious as to why the author decided to center her book around the aftermath of a Time's Square bombing in 2001. History reimagined, eh? Little did I know, that the loved ones of many characters in the book were taken too soon in the terrorist attack. And this specific event, similarly to the lemons, plays a huge role in the story and the characters' developments.

This book was magical without getting too witch-y and playful. I think the story kept a very mature vibe, while constantly talking about love and a cult-like group of teenagers. The writing style was just everything from the dozens of quotes I was able to pick out of the book to the eloquently worded phrases of dialogue that gave the characters power. I don't know if this makes sense but there were a lot of things that would have been hard to conceptualize had it not been for Haydu's clear and concise way of writing. This book definitely reads like a contemporary but with fantastical elements of the supernatural, dealing with death and cult-like rituals.

"Love is a fever, and I was feverish. Love is a certainty, and I was certain."

-- quoted from an uncorrected proof of the book.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic as things were happening so fast that I couldn't even believe what was happening when IT happened. Don't worry, you'll know when you read it. As much as I would like to tell you, I don't want to spoil everything for you!

Although it may read and look like a contemporary, this book is not one to be taken lightly. Filled with incredibly immersive writing style, entertaining characters and the inclusion of the culture of this one cult-like group on Devonairre Street, readers will be sure to read this book in one go. You have been warned.

Author Bio

Corey Ann Haydu is the critically acclaimed author of several novels for young readers novels, including OCD Love Story, which earned her a Publishers Weekly Flying Start. Her books have been Junior Library Guild, Indie Next, and BCCB Blue Ribbon selections. Corey lives in Brooklyn with her dog, her fiance, and a wide selection of cheese.

GIVEAWAY!

Enter for a chance to win one (1) of three (3) signed copies of A Careful Undressing of Love by Corey Ann Haydu (ARV: $17.99 each)

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on January 30, 2017 and 12:00 AM on February 13th, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about February 14, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

I definitely think that is a really good comparison. I usually like to compare the books I read to other forms of literature or tv shows/movies because it gives the reader a little bit more context and makes them interested and relatable. I really hope you do end up picking it up!

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Any books that are reviewed on this site are either gifted to me, won in a giveaway, or purchased. All reviews are honest, and are not swayed by anything. I will note if the books have been gifted or won. Most pictures or clip art have been taken off of Google or somewhere else if said otherwise. Said pictures are not mine, and I do not hold ownership over them unless stated otherwise.